Improved device foe attaching over-soles to boots and shoes



@uiten tatrs atent-@ffira B, H. CAMP, OF "ASHINGTON'DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO i HIMSELF AND RUFUS PRENTIOE.

Letters Patent No. 72,164, daten? December 17, 1867.

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Be it known that I, B. of Washington, in the count-y of Washington, and District of Columbia, have invented'a new and "useful Clasp for Attaching Over-Soles to Boots or Shoes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specilieation, in which.

Figure 'l is .a plan view ofthe bottom of the over-sole and clasp, and

Figure 2 is a side elevation ofthe same, and a portion of a boot, showing the connection of the three devices.

This invention is applicable to the cla-ss of devices termed over-soles, which, as their name implies, are merely rubber or leather so-les for attachment to boots and shoes in place ofthe ordinary over-shoes.

The invention consists of a piece of corrugated wire attached to the rear end of an over-sole, for the purvsc of connecting the same with the sole of a boot or shoe, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention belongs to understand its construction and operation, I will proceed to describe the same.

A represents an over-sole, of rubber or other suitable material, the construction of which it will`not be necessary here to describe. b represents a piece of corrugated wire, which may be of brass, steel, or other available metal, said wire being firmly attached, in any convenient manner, to the rear end of the over-sole, and being fashioned at its extremities into hooks c, by means of which the connection of the over-'sole with the shoe is effected, the hooks c taking hold ofthe boot or shoe at the narrow part thereof, between the sole and the" upper. The advantage of using a corrugated clasp is that the length thereof can be increased or diminished at pleasure, simply by drawing the corrugations farther apart or forcing them nearer together, so that the same clasp may, with the greatest ease, be made to fit a boot of any width; and to whatever 'width of boot it may be applied, its length can be so adjusted as to bring suiicient strain on the hooks c to eifectually prevent the clasp from coming off.

I am aware that a patent for a somewhat similar device was granted to E. W. Woodruff, September 10,

1867, his invention consisting of Aan' elastic rubber strap connected with the over-sole, in combination with a metallic clasp for attachment to the boot.- Iclaim, however, that my invention is an improvement on Wood' rulfs, for the reason that it is more simple in its construction and operation; more easily and cheaply made;

allows the over-sole to extend back farther toward theA narrow part of the boot, `inasmuch as Woodrulfs elastic strap intervenes between the over-sole and clasp, and space must be'left for it, whereas my clasp is attached `directly to the over-sole; and, above all, my invention is an improvement on Woodruif's, for the reason that it is attachable, as before explained, to a sle of any width, whereas one of Woodrulfs clasps is capable of use only in connection with a sole of corresponding width. Furthermore, Woodruifs strap, being elastic, is of` necessity made of material prepared in a different way from that of the over-sole, so that the two cannot be manufactured in one piece, but must be connected after their manufacture-an operation not easy to perform, owing to the difficulty of suitably uniting these two pieces of rubber. There is no diiiiculty, however, in uniting my corrugated clasp with the over-sole. i p

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In combination with the over-sole a, the corrugated elastic clasp-b, when constructed, arranged, and operatinv in the manner herein described. a

B. H. CAMP.

Witnesses:

Gao. E. BROWN, R. PaENrIcn. 

